The turtle moves.... slowly

astrocytic_kitten

Hello all! Must admit, I spiritually feel like a DFW who doesn’t belong on the grown-ups board, but I’ve been debt free for over a year now so I'm shyly venturing into MFW territory 😂

For some background - after spending several years living beyond my means and thinking a ‘good’ salary meant I didn’t need to budget (while my debt got larger….and larger….), I had my LBM 3 years ago and paid off my debt in early 2021. New MFW diary is due to a home move (and bigger mortgage) and I want to get into good habits from the off.

I really want to live a sustainable, frugal, environmentally friendly life, and I do live pretty cheaply in a lot of ways. But I make up for this in being a massive emotional spender. Books, plants and clothes are my weaknesses! Plus the odd deliveroo grocery order only made so I can get an emergency mini eggs delivery 🙄 While paying off the debt I managed to build checks and balances into my spending and I have a few strategies to put the brakes on before hitting buy so I’m much better on this now, though I think I’ll always have the tendency to think something shiny will make everything better (case in point was a few weeks ago when it looked like the sale would collapse and I immediately became the owner of 2 new jumpers and some books I’d wanting for a while but had hoped the library would acquire 😂).

I spend almost all my time at home due to chronic illness and really like it to be peaceful, relaxing, comfortable… moving is unsettling and there's a large emotional drive in me to try to get everything sorted asap, even though I know it makes FAR more sense to live with it for a while then buy considered things that will definitely work for the space. So I'll need to be keeping an eye on that urge. There is also a little devil on my shoulder telling me that with inflation it makes more sense to buy the things I know I definitely want now rather than waiting until I actually have the money 🤦

I think the biggest challenge with focusing on mortgage will be the timescales, even in the midst of the slog of debt payoff I was still dealing with a relatively short timescale. I have a big spreadsheet showing different overpayment options and the difference it makes, but it still feels like the figures involved are so big its hard to see it making a difference.

I have 2 main goals I hope this diary will keep me on track with and accountable for:

• Get mortgage down to 5 figures by the end of my 5 year fix - this is a slight stretch but the overpayment is do-able assuming my income stays the same, I'm able to keep to my padded 'cost of living crisis' predicted costs, and inflation doesn't spiral beyond that 😬 I'm assuming that by the end of the fix interest rates will be much higher 
• Main goal is don’t get into debt! In addition to some work I've budgeted for which needs done straight away (or as straight away as it can be with long lead times), there’s also some furniture I want to buy - though none of it is an urgent need, and I’m planning to get as much as I can via Facebook marketplace etc. And then there's all the normal fripperies to be tempted by. But I want to pay for this from cashflow or by saving for it - not by using credit or raiding other pots.

Merlin's_Beard

Honestly this is getting a follow just for the name.

I can definitely empathise with the emotional book and mini egg spending though.

killerpeaty

You need to give yourself a little leeway! If you have a mini egg emergency then you have mini egg emergency!

I love looking at furniture, but if you have a chronic illness, FB marketplace can be difficult. I know first hand! A lot of these things are very heavy so I recommend getting a sack trolley or a friend with one!

Best of luck on your journey.

savingholmes

Hi Astroytic... I followed you! The MFW board has welcomed me and I'm not quite DF yet.

I set something small and doable. For me that was a £20 recurring payment. The overpayment calculator on here said that would mean I finish my mortgage 6 months early. Have a play see what it says. 

I also like that it tells me how much interest I will no longer pay. I'm on a 22 year mortgage so generally 50% of the payment amount is what I save in interest by OPing

Good luck.

astrocytic_kitten

Merlin's_Beard said:

Honestly this is getting a follow just for the name.

I can definitely empathise with the emotional book and mini egg spending though.

🤣 I love a Pratchett quote! And I always put off eating Easter chocolate for months after it appears, then now when it’s getting so difficult to find mini eggs I wonder why

astrocytic_kitten

killerpeaty said:

You need to give yourself a little leeway! If you have a mini egg emergency then you have mini egg emergency!

I love looking at furniture, but if you have a chronic illness, FB marketplace can be difficult. I know first hand! A lot of these things are very heavy so I recommend getting a sack trolley or a friend with one!

Best of luck on your journey.

I’m glad people are seeing the need for chocolate 😂 

Must admit, I have a couple of friends with cars living very close to new place who I’m hoping can be roped into future marketplace furniture activities, though I haven’t actually mentioned this to them yet. Had to Google sack trolley, had no idea that’s what those things were called! I’ve sometimes thought about getting one to get my enormous cat to the vets. I’m too weak for much other than taxis door to door right now but definitely something to bear in mind for once I’m stronger 👍 Thanks for the good wishes!

astrocytic_kitten

savingholmes said:

Hi Astroytic... I followed you! The MFW board has welcomed me and I'm not quite DF yet.

I set something small and doable. For me that was a £20 recurring payment. The overpayment calculator on here said that would mean I finish my mortgage 6 months early. Have a play see what it says. 

I also like that it tells me how much interest I will no longer pay. I'm on a 22 year mortgage so generally 50% of the payment amount is what I save in interest by OPing

Good luck.

Thanks SH. I’m currently 274 posts and over a month behind on your diary 😂

I’m mostly using my spreadsheet for overpayment calculations so I can do lots of tinkering without having to start from scratch every day, but I love the idea of adding an interest saved part to it - will do that!

savingholmes

Ouch to 274 posts behind. You could always skip ahead that's what a lot do.

Some even ask for a summary LOL.  It would typically go something like this

• Argh!!! Unexpected bill.... frantic activity... sold something / £ came in.... Phew
• Argh!!! New problem - ditto above 
• DD is helpful / a pain / ill / needs a lift /100 mile round trip 
• Frantic activity.... 
• Made it.... 

astrocytic_kitten

🤣 love the summary @savingholmes, I’ll bear that in mind! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Nice to see you in your new home @astrocytic_kitten - looking forward to seeing your MFW journey develop over the coming months  

girlatplay

Subscribed!

Excited to see your progress and I'm hoping to not be too many months behind you.

savingholmes said:

Ouch to 274 posts behind. You could always skip ahead that's what a lot do.

Some even ask for a summary LOL.  It would typically go something like this

• Argh!!! Unexpected bill.... frantic activity... sold something / £ came in.... Phew
• Argh!!! New problem - ditto above 
• DD is helpful / a pain / ill / needs a lift /100 mile round trip 
• Frantic activity.... 
• Made it.... 

This made me LOL.  It's so very accurate of your diary SH.